M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Pro: What’s new and improved?

3 months ago 29

The 2024 iPad Pro with M4 chip takes performance to the next level. So what’s been upgraded from the previous iPad Pro? Read along for a detailed look at the M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Pro.

iPad Pro background

In 2021, the 11 and 12.9″ iPad Pro arrived with the powerful M1 chip, Thunderbolt connectivity, 5G for cellular models, new camera features like Center Stage, and more.

Then the 2022 M2 iPad Pro arrived with a number of tweaks and changes, but many were minor which may have pushed customers toward the M1 iPad Pro or even iPad Air.

Then in spring 2024, the new iPad Pro models launched with the brand-new M4 chip and a range of improvements.

Below we’ll take an in-depth look at the M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Pro.

M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Pro

Performance

The main difference in performance between the new and old iPad Pro is thanks to the upgrade of the M4 chip. Apple says it delivers up to a 50% faster CPU, 4x faster GPU, and a boost in memory bandwidth from 100GB/s to 120GB/s over the M2.

Along with the new GPU comes a media engine that offers hardware-accelerated 8K H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW support – joining the Mac in being able to handle 8K video.

Other new features include 38 trillion operations per second with the M4 Neural Engine, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and more.

Note: 128, 256, and 512GB models have 8GB RAM, 1TB and 2TB models have 16GB RAM.

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Pro	13″ M4 iPad Pro	12.9″ M2 iPad Pro
Chip	M4	M2	M4	M2
CPU	9 or 10-core	8-core	9 or 10-core	8-core
GPU	10-core	10-core	10-core	10-core
Hardware-accelerated 8K H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW support	✅	❌	✅	❌
Hardware-accelerated H.264, HEVC, ProRes, and ProRes RAW	–	✅	–	✅
Hardware-accelerated ray tracing	✅	❌	✅	❌
Neural Engine	16-core	16-core	16-core	16-core
Storage	256GB – 2TB	128GB – 2TB	256GB – 2TB	128GB – 2TB
RAM	8 or 16GB	8 or 16GB	8 or 16GB	8 or 16GB
Memory bandwidth	120GB/s	100GB/s	120GB/s	100GB/s
Thunderbolt/USB 4	✅	✅	✅	✅
Cellular	5G (sub-6 GHz)	5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave	5G (sub-6 GHz)	5G (sub-6 GHz and mmWave

As it happens, one loss is mmWave connectivity for 5G with the 2024 iPad Pro models.

Display

The new M4 iPad Pro models go beyond their predecessors with a new “Ultra Retina XDR Display.” It’s the first to use Tandem OLED compared to the LED/mini-LED of the M2 iPad Pro models.

Apple says the benefits of the new OLED display are brighter specular highlights, deeper true blacks, better detail in shadows and low light, and more.

Both the smaller and larger iPad Pro feature the new OLED display and you can also now upgrade the 1 or 2TB M4 iPad Pro with nano-texture display glass.

You also get brighter SDR content up to 1000 nits with the M4 iPad Pro models (600 nits for M2 iPad Pro SDR content).

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Pro	13″ M4 iPad Pro	12.9″ M2 iPad Pro
Display	11″ with OLED	11″ with LED	13″ with OLED	12.9″ with mini-LED
Resolution	2420 x 1668	2388 x 1668	2752 x 2064	2732 x 2048
PPI (pixels per inch)	264	264	264	264
Display brightness	1000 nits SDR, 1000 nits max full screen XDR, 1600 nits peak (HDR only)	600 nits	1000 nits SDR, 1000 nits max full screen XDR, 1600 nits peak (HDR only)	600 nits SDR, 1000 nits max full screen XDR, 1600 nits peak (HDR only)
True Tone	✅	✅	✅	✅
P3 wide color	✅	✅	✅	✅
ProMotion (120Hz)	✅	✅	✅	✅
Anti-reflective and fingerprint-resistant coating	✅	✅	✅	✅
Fully laminated display	✅	✅	✅	✅
Nano-texture display glass	Optional on 1TB and 2TB models	❌	Optional on 1TB and 2TB models	❌
Liquid Retina Display	–	✅	–	–
Liquid Retina XDR Display	–	❌	–	✅
Ultra Retina XDR Display	✅	❌	✅	❌
Apple Pencil Hover	✅	✅	✅	✅

Shared display features across all M4 and M2 pro models include ProMotion (10-120Hz refresh), P3 wide color, fully laminated displays, anti-reflective coating, Apple Pencil Hover, and True Tone.

Design, dimensions, weight, colors

The M4 iPad Pro is the “thinnest product Apple has ever created” at just 5.1mm for the 13″ model and 5.3mm for the 11″ version.

Along with that, the new M4 iPad Pro is lighter than its predecessor and weighs under 1 pound for the 11″ and 1.28 pounds for the 13″.

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Pro	13″ M4 iPad Pro	12.9″ M2 iPad Pro
Height	9.83 inches (249.7 mm)	9.74 inches (247.6 mm)	11.09 inches (281.6 mm)	11.04 inches (280.6 mm)
Width	6.99 inches (177.5 mm)	7.02 inches (178.5 mm)	8.48 inches (215.5 mm)	8.46 inches (214.9 mm)
Depth	0.21 inch (5.3 mm)	0.23 inch (5.9 mm)	0.20 inch (5.1 mm)	0.25 inches (6.4 mm)
Weight	0.98 pounds (446 grams)	1.04 pounds (470 grams)	1.28 pounds (582 grams)	1.5 pounds (682 grams)

New this time around is the Space Black finish replacing Space Gray for the M4 iPad Pro while Silver remains the other choice.

Connectivity and accessories

The new iPad Pro models work with the same type of Apple accessories. Those come in the form of a new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro – or you could opt for the mid-tier Apple Pencil with USB-C.

Here’s a look at the rest of the I/O and connective specs:

	11 and 13″ M4 iPad Pro	11 and 12.9″ M2 iPad Pro
Apple Pencil Pro support	✅	❌
Apple Pencil gen 2 support	❌	✅
Apple Pencil USB-C	✅	✅
Magic Keyboard support	✅	✅
5G	✅ (sub-6Ghz)	✅ (sub-6Ghz and mmWave)
WiFi 6E	✅	✅
SIM	eSIM only	eSIM and nano-SIM
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
USB-C	✅ USB 4	✅ USB 4
Thunderbolt	✅	✅
Face ID	✅	✅

Beyond the drop of mmWave for 5G, the M4 iPad Pro has also lost its nano-SIM slot.

Battery life

The 2024 iPad Pro models with M4 chip feature the same battery life as their predecessors:

10 hours of web or video use on WiFi
9 hours of web use with cellular

Storage and price

Storage gets a slight tweak with the M4 iPad Pro starting with 256GB and going up to 2TB. Pricing is $100 more than the M2 iPad Pro lineup or $200 more if you add the nano-texture glass for the 1 and 2TB models.

	11″ M4 iPad Pro	11″ M2 iPad Pro	13″ M4 iPad Pro	12.9″ M2 iPad Pro
128GB WiFi	–	$799	–	$1,099
128GB + cell	–	$999	–	$1,299
256GB WiFi	$999	$899	$1,299	$1,199
256GB + cell	$1,199	$1,099	$1,499	$1,399
512GB WiFi	$1,199	$1,099	$1,499	$1,399
512GB + cell	$1,399	$1,299	$1,699	$1,599
1TB WiFi	$1,599	$1,499	$1,899	$1,799
1TB + cell	$1,799	$1,699	$2,099	$1,999
2TB WiFi	$1,999	$1,899	$2,299	$2,199
2TB + cell	$2,199	$2,099	$2,499	$2,399

Cameras, video, and audio

On the M4 iPad Pro rear camera system, you’ve got a 12MP wide lens, LiDAR Scanner, and a Retina Flash with True Tone.

Interestingly, the M4 iPad Pro has ditched the 10MP ultra wide lens of the M2 iPad Pro.

On the front, you get a 12MP ultra wide lens with Center Stage support that’s now centered on the long landscape edge instead of the short edge with the 2024 M4 iPad Pro models.

	11 and 13″ M4 iPad Pro	11 and 12.9″ M2 iPad Pro
12MP wide lens	✅	✅
10MP ultra wide lens	❌	✅
LiDAR	✅	✅
4K video	✅	✅
ProRes video up to 4K 30 fps	✅	✅
Extended dynamic range	✅	✅
Slo-mo video	✅	✅
Rear camera flash	✅	✅
TrueDepth camera with Face ID	✅ (landscape edge)	✅ (portrait edge)
Ultra wide 12MP front camera	✅	✅
2x optical zoom out	❌	✅
Smart HDR 4 photos	✅	✅
Center Stage auto-tracking	✅	✅
4-speaker audio	✅	✅
Stereo recording	✅	✅
Studio-quality mics	4	5

The M4 (and M2) iPad Pro front camera also supports Portrait mode, Portrait Lighting, and Animoji/Memoji.

M4 iPad Pro vs M2 iPad Pro conclusion

Why buy M4 iPad Pro?

Looking at the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Pro, it may make the most sense to only buy the new model if you’re a pro or aspiring pro with workflows that will benefit from the M4 upgrade. Or you’re just fine with spending the money on the latest release from Apple 😁.

The M4 iPad Pro is available at Apple, Amazon, Best Buy, and more.

Why buy M2 iPad Pro or stick with what you’ve got?

When you can get many of the M4 iPad Pro features with the M2 iPad Pro and the processor difference not being a deal-breaker for many, grabbing one for a discount could be a nice move. Or keep your existing iPad Pro/Air.

Also, the 2024 iPad Air offers a compelling package at a cheaper price than the iPad Pro. In many ways, it’s like the M2 iPad Pro reborn as the new iPad Air features an M2 chip. And new for 2024 is a 13″ model alongside the 11″ version.